Carbon Finance Schemes - Incentives for Forest and Agroforestry Systems

Deforestation contributes a quarter of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. On the island of Sulawesi in the vicinity of the Lore Lindu National Park, smallholders contribute to deforestation processes with their agricultural practices, specifically with cocoa plantations. This study assesses the impact of carbon sequestration payments for forest management systems on the prevailing land use systems. Additionally, the level of incentives which induces farmers to adopt sustainable agroforestry practices is determined. We show that low carbon credit prices have a small impact on household income. However, with rising prices, the poorest households can realise an increase of 18 percent. The majority of the households have an incentive to adopt the more sustainable shade intensive agroforestry system and stop deforestation activities with prices observed on markets. The cost-efficiency of avoided deforestation, compared to biofuels, is demonstrated. The study shows that forestry activities provide an important opportunity as climate mitigation strategies

Payments for environmental services : incentives through carbon sequestration compensation for cocoa-based agroforestry systems in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Up to 25 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation, and Indonesia is the third largest greenhouse gas emitter worldwide due to land use change and deforestation. On the island of Sulawesi in the vicinity of the Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP), many smallholders contribute to conversion processes at the forest margin as a result of their agricultural practices. Specifically the area dedicated to cocoa plantations has increased from zero (1979) to nearly 18,000 hectares (2001). Some of these plots have been established inside the 220,000 hectares of the LLNP. An intensification process is observed with a consequent reduction of the shade tree density. This study assesses which impact carbon sequestration payments for forest management systems have on the prevailing land use systems. Additionally, the level of incentives is determined which motivates farmers to desist from further deforestation and land use intensification activities. Household behaviour and resource allocation is analysed with a comparative static linear programming model. As these models prove to be a reliable tool for policy analysis, the output can indicate the adjustments in resource allocation and land use shifts when introducing compensation payments. The data was collected in a household survey in six villages around the LLNP. Four household categories are identified according to their dominant agroforestry systems. These range from low intensity management with a high degree of shading to highly intensified shade free systems. At the plot level, the payments from carbon sequestration are the highest for the full shade cocoa agroforestry system, but with low carbon prices of € 5 tCO2e-1 these constitute 5 percent of the cocoa gross margin. Focusing on the household level, however, an increase of up to 18 percent of the total gross margin can be realised. Furthermore, for differentiated carbon prices up to € 32 tCO2e-1 the majority of the households have an incentive to adopt the more sustainable shade intensive agroforestry system. A win-win situation seems to appear, whereby, when targeting only the shade intensive agroforestry systems with carbon payments, the poorest households economically benefit the most and land use systems with high environmental benefits are promoted.payments for environmental services, carbon sequestration, agroforestry systems, cocoa, linear programming, economic incentives, poverty, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Could carbon payments be a solution to deforestation? Empirical evidence from Indonesia

Up to 25 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation, and Indonesia is the third largest emitter worldwide due to land use change and deforestation. On the island of Sulawesi in the vicinity of the Lore Lindu National Park, smallholders contribute to conversion processes at the forest margin as a result of their agricultural practices. Specifically the area dedicated to cocoa plantations has increased from zero in 1979 to nearly 18,000 hectares in 2001. Some of these plots have been established inside the 220,000 hectares of the National Park. An intensification process is observed with a consequent reduction of the shade tree density. This study focuses on the impact of carbon sequestration payments for forest management systems on smallholder households. The level of incentives is determined which motivates farmers to desist from further deforestation and land use intensification activities. Household behaviour and resource allocation is analysed with a comparative static linear programming model. As these models prove to be a reliable tool for policy analysis, the output can indicate the adjustments in resource allocation and land use shifts when introducing compensation payments. The data was collected in a household survey in six villages around the Lore Lindu National Park. Four household categories were identified according to their dominant agroforestry systems. With carbon credit prices up to €32 tCO2e-1 an incentive can be provided for the majority of the households to adopt the more sustainable shade intensive agroforestry systems. The results show that with current carbon prices the deforestation activities of the majority of households could be stopped. A win-win situation seems to appear, whereby, when targeting only the shade intensive agroforestry systems with carbon payments, the poorest households economically benefit the most, the vicious circle of deforestation can be interrupted and land use systems with high environmental benefits are promoted.Payments for Environmental Services, Avoided Deforestation, Linear Programming, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Laminated diatomaceous sediments of the Red Sea, their composition and significance as recorders of abrupt changes in productivity and circulation during the Late Quaternary

Laminated sediments from the Shaban Deep, a brine-filled basin in the northern Red Sea, were investigated with special emphasis on the major biogenic components (especially diatoms) within the sediments. First, diatom assemblages from plankton tows distributed in the northern Red Sea were compared with surface sediment samples from brine and non-brine locations. Fragile forms that dominate the plankton assemblage are subject to strong dissolution leaving the sedimentary record enriched in heavily silicified species. Detailed backscattered electron imagery was used in order to determine laminae composition and genesis with emphasis on the diatomaceous component between the Last Glacial Maximum (~22 ka) and the Late Holocene (last 2000 years). Sediment fabric includes six types: a) a laminated structure with alternating light (mainly coccoliths) and dark (diatom frustules) layers; b) a pocket-like structure attributed to the sinking of particles within fecal pellets and aggregates; c) a matrix of tightly packed diatoms; d) homogenous intervals (turbidity deposition); e) silt accumulations which origin may lie in agglutinated foraminifers; and f) pyrite layers with pyrite formation possibly initiated at the seawater-brine interface. Sedimentation models were produced that take into account the importance of different diatom assemblages as tracers of changes in stratification/mixing in the northern Red Sea. The models include: 1) An annual sedimentation cycle for the last 15 kyr with coccolithophorids reflecting the summer season while diatoms represent fall-winter conditions. 2) A LGM-Deglaciation model that concentrates on the shift from mixed water column conditions of the LGM to stratified conditions of the Deglaciation. No annual cycle could be established for this time frame due to high carbonate dissolution and thus the lack of the summer signal in the sediments

Payments for environmental services : incentives through carbon sequestration compensation for cocoa-based agroforestry systems in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Up to 25 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation, and Indonesia is the third largest greenhouse gas emitter worldwide due to land use change and deforestation. On the island of Sulawesi in the vicinity of the Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP), many smallholders contribute to conversion processes at the forest margin as a result of their agricultural practices. Specifically the area dedicated to cocoa plantations has increased from zero (1979) to nearly 18,000 hectares (2001). Some of these plots have been established inside the 220,000 hectares of the LLNP. An intensification process is observed with a consequent reduction of the shade tree density. This study assesses which impact carbon sequestration payments for forest management systems have on the prevailing land use systems. Additionally, the level of incentives is determined which motivates farmers to desist from further deforestation and land use intensification activities. Household behaviour and resource allocation is analysed with a comparative static linear programming model. As these models prove to be a reliable tool for policy analysis, the output can indicate the adjustments in resource allocation and land use shifts when introducing compensation payments. The data was collected in a household survey in six villages around the LLNP. Four household categories are identified according to their dominant agroforestry systems. These range from low intensity management with a high degree of shading to highly intensified shade free systems. At the plot level, the payments from carbon sequestration are the highest for the full shade cocoa agroforestry system, but with low carbon prices of ? 5 tCO2e-1 these constitute 5 percent of the cocoa gross margin. Focusing on the household level, however, an increase of up to 18 percent of the total gross margin can be realised. Furthermore, for differentiated carbon prices up to ? 32 tCO2e-1 the majority of the households have an incentive to adopt the more sustainable shade intensive agroforestry system. A win-win situation seems to appear, whereby, when targeting only the shade intensive agroforestry systems with carbon payments, the poorest households economically benefit the most and land use systems with high environmental benefits are promoted

Helping smallholder farmers mitigate climate change

Key messages - Smallholder farmers can contribute significantly to climate change mitigation but will need incentives to adapt their practices. - Incentives from selling carbon credits are limited by low returns to farmers, high transaction costs, and the need for farmers to invest in mitigation activities long before they receive payments. - Improved food security, economic benefits and adaptation to climate change are more fundamental incentives that should accompany mitigation. - Designing agricultural investment and policy to provide up-front finance and longer term rewards for mitigation practices will help reach larger numbers of farmers than specialized mitigation interventions

Carbonate recrystallisation and organic matter maturation in heat-affected sediments from the Shaban Deep, Red Sea

Parasound profiles across the Shaban Deep in the Red Sea indicate turbiditic transport of surface sediments from the topographic hight (basalt ridge) into the interior of the deep. This is supported by petrographical and (isotope-) geochemical evidence in the East Basin of the Shaban Deep where the presence of variable mixtures of authochtonous and allochthonous sediment compounds had been found. The uppermost 170 cm of both sediment cores 17008-1 and 17009-3 reveal “normal” stable oxygen isotope values for the planktonic foraminifera G. ruber near -1 ‰ which is indicative for carbonate formation in Red Sea surface water around 27°C. However, below 182 cm in core 17008-1 highly variable δ 18O values for G. ruber between 0.26 and -10.68 ‰ occur which are not the result of temperature-controlled oxygen isotope fractionation between foraminiferal carbonate and Red Sea surface water. The lowest δ18O values of -10.68 ‰ measured for highly-altered foraminifera shells suggests carbonate precipitation higher than 90°C. Organic petrographical observations show a great diversity of marine-derived macerals and terrigenous organic particles. Based on petrographical investigations sediment core 17008-1 can be subdivided in intervals predominantly of authochtonous character (i.e. 1, 3, 5 corresponding to core depths 0-170 cm, 370-415 cm, 69-136 cm), and allochthonous/thermally altered character (e.g. 2, 4 corresponding to core depths 189-353 cm, 515-671 cm). Allochthonous/thermally altered material displays a wide to an extremely wide range of maturities (0.38-1.42 % Rr) and also natural coke particles were found. Similarily, the organic geochemical and pyrolysis data indicate the predominance of well-preserved, immature algal and bacterial remains with a minor contribution of land plant material. Sediments below 170 cm (core 17008-1) contain contributions of re-sedimented pre-heated material most likely from the area of the basaltic ridge. This is documented by individual coke particles reduced hydrogen indices and elevated Tmax values up to 440°C. An “oil-type” contribution (evidenced by mature biomarkers, hopene/hopane ratios, elevated background fluorescence, n-alkane distribution) is also present in the sediments which most likely originated at greater depth and impregnated the surface sediments. The heat source responsible for recrystallisation of foraminiferal carbonate and maturation of organic particles in Shaban Deep sediments most likely is attributed to modern basalt extrusions which now separate the Shaban Deep subbasins

Organic-rich sediments in brine-filled Shaban- and Kebrit Deeps, Northern Red Sea

The element compositions Si, Ca and Al of up to 2 1.1 ka old sediments in about 10 in long cores from the southern basin of the Shaban and Kebrit deeps in the northern Red Sea allowed a classification of major sediment types in carbonate sands and -muds and siliceous oozes. A FeOOH-enriched sediment horizon and a few samples with high Zn values in the Kebrit core indicate a hydrothermal origin probably near the brine-sea water interface with subsequent transport of hydrothermal compounds into the deep sediments. High organic carbon contents up to 8.4% are positively correlated with the Ba concentrations, which suggests that high bioproductivity, and rapid deposition (C-14 dating suggests a sedimentation rate near 70 cm/ka) led to the formation of sapropelic sediments between 11.8 and 13.6 ka (Younger Dryas). Organic petrological observations showed that the sediment organic material largely consists of <20 gm-sized roundish fecal pellets (intimate mixtures of organic matter and inorganic constituents) and bituminite. Terrestrial organic matter (pollens of land plants, fusinite etc.) is very rare in the sediment cores from both deeps. Organic-geochemical investigations of kerogens and organic extracts show that a significant (hydrothermal) hydrocarbon production did not occur in near-surface sediments of the Shaban and Kebrit deeps. Rock Eval pyrolysis of kerogens characterised the organic matter to be of type II quality. The delta C-13 values of the kerogens from the most prominent sapropel in the Shaban deep indicate an enrichment of(C-12-rich) nutrients in the water column during postglacial sapropel formation in the Younger Dryas. The n-alkane spectra are dominated by short chain lengths between n-C-15 and n-C-25 Prevailing n-C-15 to n-C-25 alkanes in low mature sediments are indicative of algal and microbial source. Pristane/phytane ratios are generally low (< I to similar to 1) which suggests that anoxic conditions prevailed within the anaerobic brine-filled deeps for the whole time covered by the sediments. This again indicates that sapropel formation was caused by high bioproductivity in the northern Red Sea rather than episodic stagnation with better preservation of the organic matter. Long-chain alkenones and sterols are the dominating compounds of the lipid fraction. Cholesterol contents in the sediment cores reflect phases of eukaryotes production in the water column, whereas the positive correlations of dinosterol with TOC and the amounts of total extract suggests that the major organic carbon source in the northern Red Sea during postglacial high-productivity stages were dinoflagellates. Another important carbon source, however, is indicated by the occurrence of 22,29,30-trisnorhopan-21 -one (TNH). Although the formation of TNH from its precursors is not fully understood, this compound probably results from microbial. degradation of intact bacteriohopanepolyols (BHP), which can be used as indicators for bacterial abundances and phyla. TNH is most likely produced at the brine-sea water interface where sedimenting organic matter accumulates and, if the redoxcline corresponds to the density gradient, the organic matter is subjected to efficient aerobic bacterial degradation processes. However, during high bioproductivity stage (Younger Dryas) the redoxcline was probably higher in the water column and thus, a significant TNH production at the brine-sea water interface did not occur at times of sapropel formation in the northern Red Sea deeps. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved

Climate-Smart Landscapes: Opportunities and Challenges for Integrating Adaptation and Mitigation in Tropical Agriculture

Addressing the global challenges of climate change, food security, and poverty alleviation requires enhancing the adaptive capacity and mitigation potential of agricultural landscapes across the tropics. However, adaptation and mitigation activities tend to be approached separately due to a variety of technical, political, financial, and socioeconomic constraints. Here, we demonstrate that many tropical agricultural systems can provide both mitigation and adaptation benefits if they are designed and managed appropriately and if the larger landscape context is considered. Many of the activities needed for adaptation and mitigation in tropical agricultural landscapes are the same needed for sustainable agriculture more generally, but thinking at the landscape scale opens a new dimension for achieving synergies. Intentional integration of adaptation and mitigation activities in agricultural landscapes offers significant benefits that go beyond the scope of climate change to food security, biodiversity conservation, and poverty alleviation. However, achieving these objectives will require transformative changes in current policies, institutional arrangements, and funding mechanisms to foster broad‐scale adoption of climate‐smart approaches in agricultural landscapes

Earthworm-produced calcite granules: a new terrestrial palaeothermometer?

In this paper we show for the first time that calcite granules, produced by the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris, and commonly recorded at sites of archaeological interest, accurately reflect temperature and soil water δ18O values. Earthworms were cultivated in an orthogonal combination of two different (granule-free) soils moistened by three types of mineral water and kept at three temperatures (10, 16 and 20 ºC) for an acclimatisation period of three weeks followed by transfer to identical treatments and cultivation for a further four weeks. Earthworm-secreted calcite granules were collected from the second set of soils. δ18O values were determined on individual calcite granules (δ18Oc) and the soil solution (δ18Ow). The δ18Oc values reflect soil solution δ18Ow values and temperature, but are consistently enriched by 1.51 (±0.12) ‰ in comparison to equilibrium in synthetic carbonates. The data fit the equation 1000 ln α = [20.21 ± 0.92] (103 T-1) - [38.58 ± 3.18] (R2 = 0.95; n = 96; p < 0.0005). As the granules are abundant in modern soils, buried soils and archaeological contexts, and can be dated using U-Th disequilibria, the developed palaeotemperature relationship has enormous potential for application to Holocene and Pleistocene time intervals